Overview

A Public Access Law Library of the NYS Unified Court System, 5th Judicial District, the Oneida County Supreme Court Library is a member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and the NYS Unified Court Law Libraries Association (ProSe).

History & Management

Since its inception in 1889, the Oneida County Law Library has been providing service to the bench, bar, and the public. The Library staff presently includes one professional and three support staff.

Location & Directions

The Oneida County Supreme Court Law Library is located across the street from the Oneida County Courthouse, in the former Central Fire Station of Utica. at the corner of Elizabeth and Burnet Streets. From NYS Thruway Exit 31, proceed on Genesee Street North, bear right onto John Street and turn right onto Elizabeth Street at the fourth light. Proceed for one block. The Library building is on the righthand side.

Collections & Services

Collections include primary and secondary resources, with an emphasis on New York law, including a significant number of texts and treatises for general practice, law reviews, and records on appeal for the New York Court of Appeals and the Appellate Divisions. Our holdings are included in the LION online catalog.

Law library services include legal research assistance, basic training in the use of online legal research tools such as Lexis.com, Loislaw.com, and Westlaw.com; Interlibrary loan and Circulation. Document delivery is available.

Some materials are only available in microfiche or microform. The Library has one reader/printer in the rear of the Library. A vendor-supplied self-service copy machine is located in the front of the library (15 cents per photocopy, 10 cents with a copy card, $1.00 to purchase the card ).

Reference

Legal Reference service is provided by the Law Library staff and includes reference assistance, as well as bibliographic instruction and general information on the law. Public access to Lexis, Loislaw and Westlaw is available for online legal research and the Library is WiFi accessible. There are presently three Public Access computers available. Library Staff will provide instruction on the use of the legal databases to facilitate independent research. Although staff are unable to provide legal advice or counsel, we are happy to assist you in using the Law Library to research the areas and topics necessary to answer your questions, and to refer you to other organizations as appropriate.

Circulation

Most law library books, tapes, videos, and CD-ROM,s may be borrowed for 14 days by attorneys only. A borrower/attorney must go to the Library to complete a registration form, show a valid, current ID (such as New York Driver,s License) and proof of current address.

Interlibrary Loan

Material not available at this Library can be obtained through our interlibrary loan service. Most interlibrary loans can be obtained at no cost but when the supplying Library requires a fee, borrowers will be notified and have the option of refusing the offer. Materials are generally available within a week to ten days, often sooner.